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Leg Up

The next step in your university career begins with Leg Up – Western’s set of pre-university online modules.

As an entrant to Western University, you are invited to join Leg Up and begin your successful start to university.

What is LEG UP?

Leg Up is a set of discipline specific online modules designed to give you a glimpse into the topics covered throughout your four years at Western University. Faculty members, along with current and past students, have curated the content for this course such that it mimics the content you will see in your university coursework later on.

We estimate that each Leg Up module will take you approximately one hour to complete. You can progress through the modules at your own pace and although they are numbered one through six, you do not have to complete them in that order. We recommend completing the modules before starting your first year of university studies (for example, in the summer before starting classes in September), but Leg Up modules can also serve as a helpful resource once you have already began your studies.

Testimonials

Here's what students have to say about the Leg Up program:

"It made me feel like I was being proactive in my academics"

"I liked being able to access/have a glimpse of what we would encounter in our program"

"It helped the transition from high school to university and gave me an insight on what to expect"

"This let me understand different aspects of university and allowed me to mentally prepare for the quick transition"

How can I get started?

Evolution as both fact and theory is the central organizing principle for all other knowledge in biology. This module will discover how evolution affects our daily lives. This module will also reinforce the importance of working with your peers in university, emphasizing an important university skill – cooperative learning! Peers will be a great resource in your journey as an undergraduate student in university.

Life is a self-organizing, self-perpetuating system that passes a wide variety of information within and between successive generations. This module will look at how selected cells, organisms and populations use and communicate information. This module will also enforce good self-directed learning behaviours, including note-taking using the Cornell method, self-testing, and managing time effectively. All of these are important in helping you prepare for tests, quizzes, and exams, and minimizing stress!

All life forms face significant challenges associated with acquiring and using energy and information. The solutions to these problems are manifested in wildly diverse body types and capabilities among microbes, algae, fungi, plants and animals. This module exhibits organisms that have evolved to adapt to their environments, ensuring their survival. In this module, you will also have the chance to test your knowledge in a university-like assessment consisting of multiple-choice and short-answer questions covering the module’s material.

The Earth offers a very wide array of environments in which organisms can thrive. This has resulted in staggering diversity, represented by millions of known species, inhabiting nearly every conceivable niche from the upper atmosphere to ocean trenches to deep inside the Earth’s crust. Discover what comprises biodiversity, its importance in maintaining ecosystem balance, and its potential threats. This module will also reinforce the essential university skill of reading and writing at the university level. You will have the chance to actively read, critically engage with the content, and practice writing for both formal and informal university-related tasks.

Living systems, such as a duck, are highly organized compared to non-living systems, such as a river. Scientists use “food chains” and “food webs” to map the interactions and the flow of energy through ecosystems. Each organism in a food chain operates at a different trophic level, depending on what it eats. This module will explore the various trophic levels, as well as keystone species that help maintain the stability of their respective ecosystems. This module will also introduce you to the scientific method and the process of inquiry and experimentation, as well as strategies for reviewing literature following the CRAAP test.

Rising human populations are resulting in complex and interacting stresses on the rest of the biosphere. This module looks at how biologists are working with other scientists to find solutions to the challenges of food security, climate change, emerging diseases and conservation of biodiversity. You will also take the time to review the importance of academic integrity and discover strategies which you can use to uphold academic integrity in the context of collaboration and consultation with your peers.

This section will explore the social and personal determinants of Engineering, and why they are so important for our existence in this technologically advanced world. At the onset, the core courses that are the foundation of any Engineering discipline will be introduced. This section will also introduce different areas (four major areas) of Engineering, and demonstrate how all these disciplines are interdependent and interconnected. This module will also reinforce the importance of working with your peers in university, emphasizing an important university skill – cooperative learning! Peers will be a great resource in your journey as an undergraduate student in university.

This module explores the fun-filled areas of electrical engineering by introducing topics such as voltage, resistance, and current in the context of electrical circuits. You will also be presented with series and parallel circuits and how instructed on how to calculate resistance in each type of circuit. This module will also enforce good self-directed learning behaviours, including note-taking using the Cornell method, self-testing, and managing time effectively. All of these are important in helping you prepare for tests, quizzes, and exams, and minimizing stress!

Civil engineers are at the center of marvels such as tunnels and buildings. Explore what measurements civil engineers use in their design of structures and the importance of unit conversions. In this module, you will also have the chance to test your knowledge in a university-like assessment consisting of multiple-choice and short-answer questions covering the module’s material.

This module will introduce you to the unique idea that “if it moves, it’s mechanical engineering.” This module explores the concepts and theories used by mechanical engineers to create cars, robots, and much more. Newton’s laws of motion will be reviewed specifically for how they are applied to this subfield of engineering. This module will also reinforce the essential university skill of reading and writing at the university level. You will have the chance to actively read, critically engage with the content, and practice writing for both formal and informal university-related tasks.

How does the chemical engineering discipline help in the discussion on quality of life? Topics such as climate change and the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology are reviewed in this module. This module will also introduce you to the scientific method and the process of inquiry and experimentation, as well as strategies for reviewing literature following the CRAAP test.

How does the chemical engineering discipline help in the discussion on quality of life? Topics such as climate change and the Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) technology are reviewed in this module. This module will also introduce you to the scientific method and the process of inquiry and experimentation, as well as strategies for reviewing literature following the CRAAP test.

What is health? This module explores the social and personal determinants of health and why they are so important for any topic – health related or seemingly otherwise. This module also encourages the critical evaluation of different definitions of health and reflection on why fluctuations in health definitions are relevant. This module will also reinforce the importance of working with your peers in university, emphasizing an important university skill – cooperative learning! Peers will be a great resource in your journey as an undergraduate student in university.

The second module will explore the healthy development of children from birth to adolescence and the various characteristics associated with each stage of development. Additionally, you will learn about the four types of parental rearing styles that impact a child’s development and the role of attachment in early childhood. This module will also enforce good self-directed learning behaviours, including note-taking using the Cornell method, self-testing, and managing time effectively. All of these are important in helping you prepare for tests, quizzes, and exams, and minimizing stress!

Sleep, nutrition, exercise, social time, and personally fulfilling activities all impact a university student’s life. This module will explore how these facts can mitigate stress in university and improve academic performance. Other topics include drug use and misuse in university, and the importance of student mental health and well-being. In this module, you will also have the chance to test your knowledge in a university-like assessment consisting of multiple-choice and short-answer questions covering the module’s material.

Many careers can follow a degree in health sciences, a few of which are showcased in this module. You will also explore adult health from a biological, psychological and social perspective, and engage in a reflection about work-life balance in adulthood. This module will also reinforce the essential university skill of reading and writing at the university level. You will have the chance to actively read, critically engage with the content, and practice writing for both formal and informal university-related tasks.

Take a look at aging through the perspective of both an aging adult and a health care worker. Concepts like healthy aging will be covered, and some common myths about aging will also be debunked. This module will also introduce you to the scientific method and the process of inquiry and experimentation, as well as strategies for reviewing literature following the CRAAP test.

Take a glimpse into the future – the future of health care! Electronic medical records, health apps, and improved accessibility to health care are just a few examples of the topics covered in this module. You will also take the time to review the importance of academic integrity and discover strategies which you can use to uphold academic integrity in the context of collaboration and consultation with your peers.

This module examines the various perspectives in the study of Psychology and how they can be used to explain complex behaviour. In addition, Psychology is an empirical science and this module will examine the process of designing experiments and testing them in both lab and field settings. This module will also reinforce the importance of working with your peers in university, emphasizing an important university skill – cooperative learning! Peers will be a great resource in your journey as an undergraduate student in university.

The foundation of human behaviour is based on biological processes. This module examines the structure of the nervous system and the functionality of the brain. This module will also enforce good self-directed learning behaviours, including note-taking using the Cornell method, self-testing, and managing time effectively. All of these are important in helping you prepare for tests, quizzes, and exams, and minimizing stress!

Henry Morrison’s surgery was ground-breaking in the study of memory. This module will examine memory and the multi-store model, which explains how memories are formed. Finally, the process of forgetting will also be observed. In this module, you will also have the chance to test your knowledge in a university-like assessment consisting of multiple-choice and short-answer questions covering the module’s material.

Mary Ainsworth’s strange situation experiment led to the characterization of the four styles of attachment exhibited by children. This module dives deeper into attachment styles and how they affect development in children. Jean Piaget’s stages of cognitive development and the study of developmental psychology is also examined. This module will also reinforce the essential university skill of reading and writing at the university level. You will have the chance to actively read, critically engage with the content, and practice writing for both formal and informal university-related tasks.

Humans are social beings and they react to others around them. This module examines the influence of persuasion, groups and the process of interpersonal attraction, aggression and prejudice. This module will also introduce you to the scientific method and the process of inquiry and experimentation, as well as strategies for reviewing literature following the CRAAP test.

Psychological problems are on the increase in society. This module looks at the symptoms and causes of various psychological disorders and well as the process of clinical treatment. You will also take the time to review the importance of academic integrity and discover strategies which you can use to uphold academic integrity in the context of collaboration and consultation with your peers.

Instructional Resources

There are different types of output.

If you simply want to copy the webpage contents to your site, choose HTML output. Download the ZIP folder, place it in the appropiate spot in your institution's Learning Management System, and share the link for the "story.html" file in the first folder level.

If you would like to keep track of student progress throughout the modules, choose from SCORM (3rd or 4th edition) or Tin Can API. Please contact your institution's Information Technology Services department for more information regarding which output is compatible with your institution's LMS.